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Rights of American Citizenship — Ireland and the Ii'ish. 
SPEECHES 

HON. THOMAS SWANN, 

OF MARYLAND, 

IN THE HOUSE OF KEPRESENTATIVES, FEBBUARY 2 A3rj) 15, 1870 



Wednesdat, February 2, 1870. 



Mr. SWANN, I am instructed by the Committee on Foreign Affairs to present a report, 
the subjeet-matter of which is of considerable interest to a large class of our citizens. I am 
also instructed to ask that the resolution appended to the report be now considered. 

The report, which was read, states that on the 14th of December, 1869, the following reso. 
lution relating to the treatment of American citizens now held in prisons under English 
authority was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs: 

Resolved, Tliat the American people leai-n with horror and infllfcnatlon of the treatment of 
Ani'M-icnn citizens now held as political prisoners under English authority ; that no lan^uafj^e is 
ffuUici'-iit io rnndrinii the usage of such prisoners, and that we urge upon the national K.xccutive 
llir iiii|H i;,ii\ ,• iliuy of imiueiUate intervention on their behalf in such manner as sh.all lend to 
tiir in <]iii|ii : n III' I i- Mat ion of tlieir condition or their release : that the President communicate to 
tliis llou^t- >iu-li iulormation as he may have in reference to this subject. 

The report further states that the committee have no official or authentic information which 
would justify at this time, and without further investigation, the adoption of the resolution 
in the form in which it was presented for their action ; tRat they, however, deem the inquiry 
which it proposes of too much gravity, affecting as it does so large a class of our citizens, 
to be hastily disposed of, and without the most searching scrutiny into the obligation which, 
if the facts therein stated be true, it imposes upon the Representatives of the people in the 
cause of justice and humanity. 

The report further states that the committee cannot shut their eyes to the fact that a large 
element of our population, composed alike of Irish and native-born citizens, have become 
deeply interested in the wrongs alleged to have been committed by the authorities of Great 
Britain ; but while expressing no opinion upon the truth or falsity of the statements brought 
to their notice, the committee deem it their duty to express their cordial sympathy in the 
subject of the resolution submitted to them, so far as to coOperate in the* endeavor to pro- 
cure the fullest information upon the facts involved in the inquiry, not only as a duty of 
Christian charit}-, but of obligation to otir adopted citizens ; that while interposing the 
offices of humanity in behalf of all alike, it should be demanded by this Government, when- 
ever occasion arises, a;s atneasure of international right as well as of justice, that no American 
citizen, whether native or naturalized, shall be subject to outrage in any country or by any 
people without prompt and ample reparation. 

The committee, therefore, submit the following resolution, and recommend its adoption by 
the House, namely : 

Rexolverl by the House of Representatives, That the President of the United States be requested to 
oonmiiuVieate to this House, if not incompatible with the public interest, any information which 
jiiuy ha<'e (ronie to his knowh^dge concerning American citizens, whether native or naturalized, 
who may lie at this time confined in the jails or prisons of Great 15ritain for political tfenses, and 
any facts in relation ici the treatment of such prisoners which he may feel at liberty to communicate, 

Tlie question being upon ;uloptiug the resolution, 

3Ir. SWANN. i\lr. Sjieaker, the resolution as reported by the committee is a simple res- 
olution of inquiry, calling upon the President of the United States to furnish this House with 
information in reference to the confinement of American citizens charged with political 
offenses by the authorities of Great Britain. 

Upon this resolution I desire to say a very few words. It is well known to the country 
that for years past the people of Ireland have been subjected to outrage aud degradation; 
deprived of the rights which were accorded to others living under the same Government ; 
restricted in their religious faith ; robbed of their hard earnings by an exacting aristocracy, 
and finally driven to seek an asylum in this free land, under the combined pressure of 
slavery and starvation. Of the nationalities that liave flocked to our shores to escape the 
oppression of despotic rule it is not invidious to say that the Irish have taken the lead as 
pioneers in that great march of progress and development which has leveled your forests 
called into practical existence your works of internal improvement, and contributed by their 



labor to the productive wealth nnd power of this nation. The Irish constitute a large and 
useful element of our population. IJeeply imbued with the spirit of liberty, they have sus- 
tained your institutions and fought your buttles. To say that I am in sympathy with those 
pcople'would be to express but feebly mj? appreciation of their character and services. ' 

It is the first duty of a Government, Mr. Speaker, to protect her citizens, to throw around 
them the panoply of her power, and to defend them when assailed, at every sacrifice, against 
oppression and wrong, come from what source it may. Not less imperative is the moral duty 
of friendly remonstrance when the principles of right and justice are forgotten, and nations, 
like individuals, become blinded by distorted views of their own interest. 

The people of Ireland are charged with " political oftenses," and some of our harmless and 
unoffending citizens of Irish descent have fallen victims to the suspicions which have at- 
tached indiscriminately to, tiieir.raqe. They are tlie despised champions of popular sover. 
cignty and the right o£ sclf-govefnmefit. ■ TWs is the high trrme with which they stand 
charged. They have done no more than the people of Prance have done recently, and Louis 
Napoleon has been forced to concede, in boldly striking, the chord of popular sovereignty and 
self-government and demanding the liberalization of the degrading system under which they 
have so long and patiently sufl'ered. England may throw them into prisons, but that chord, 
she may rest assured, will never cease to vibrate. It is the voice of freedom, coming from 
the martyred graves of Tone and Emmett and Fitzgerald. Can any one with the impulses 
of an American heart refuse to extend a helping hand in every form of benevolent sympathy 
to these brave and gallant people, and in thus acting to make glad the firesides of millions 
who are scattered over this land, showing at least that if we are powerless we are not 
ungrateful ? 

If England can see her true interest, which I sincerely hope she may, in the midst of the 
lights of universal progress blazing in her face, she will throw open her prison doors and cease" 
this war of rigor and exaction so widely at variance with the spirit of the age. The Presi- 
dent of the United States, representing the sentiment of the whole American people, in any 
effort he may make toward a general amnesty, will win for himself the applause of every 
lover of republican government and free institutions by using all the moral influence which 
his high and commanding position may enable him to exert. 

Mr. Speaker, the day for human degradation h.-is gone by. The light of a new era is 
dawning upon the world ; and insult and injury and tyranny and oppression, in whatever 
form and to whatever people, whettier weak or powerful, will be visited by swift retribution. 

The American people will ere long cover this whole continent. In the providence of 
God they will hold it. In the intersst of human freedom they will stretch forth their arms 
to the remotest confines of civilization, ofl'ering encouragement and fellowship to the suflering 
of every land. Ireland will be free and the whole world will be free. But in entering 
upon this great march of civilization and Christian charity toward all mankind let us 
proclaim in the foreground, let us write it in letters which may not be mistaken as the car- 
dinal prnioiple of c ur political faith and our settled rule of action, that an American citi- 
zen, wli. tli.r native born or adopted, in whatever quartcrho may bo thrown, whether among 
Christi.iiis or iiitidrls, whether in free lands or lands dedicatid in human bondage and oppres- 
sion, shall btanJ^ forth with the oflicial assurance of this Government of immunity and 
protection under that noble passport which the world will be made to rcspict, "I am an 
American citizen." 

Non-intervention in the affairs of other nations has always been a ruling principle in the 
past administration of this Government; nor is it my purpose at this time to recommend 
any departure from this rule in the case submitted for the action of the committee in the 
sense in which it has been understood. While insisting upon justice to our citizens without 
compromise or abatement, we infringe no duty or obligation enjoined upon us by our relations 
with a friendly power or the duties of reciprocal courtesy and good understanding as be- 
tween friendly nations. But it is no part of that policy that we should submit- to in.<ult in 
the per^ons of any of our citizens, nor was it intended to stay the voice of outspoken sym- 
pathy or earnest remonstrance. Great Britain interfered more than once in the civil war 
which distracted our people and deluged this land in blood. She will not lose sight of the 
fact that we are again united under a common flag, and that while we shall continue to do 
justice, and even to forbear in the interest of peace, there is a point beyond wliich it may not 
be prudent to excite the sensibilities of the American people. 

Looking to the great ftiture we know our destiny. The chapter is already written. The 
American people need not be told in what relation they stand to the civilized world to-day. 
Unfurling the banner of freedom in the dark days of the llevolution they have fought the 
battles of liberty upon a thousand fields. The Mruu'^Iiiiu' masses of the Old World have 
caught the inspiration of their success and are fa-t o|i>uJii4 their eyes to a brighter and more 
auspicious future. Their example is abroad U])on tlie earth with its lessons of wisdom and 
triumph. Prance has felt it; and the world has reached the turning-point of the coming 
conversion. The rights of man will triumph over tyranny and wr ng. England may talk 
of her " political oflenses" and manacle still more securely the hands of our helpless breth- 
ren to stay the torrent which she is hopelessly striving to avert ; but the time will come — 
nay, Mr. Speaker, is not far distant — when these obnoxious " political ofionses'' will be the 
groundwork of lier regeneration and the pride and glory of those who will control her destiny. 



^ M.r... Spoalcerj let me indidgo, the hope that the nympatby of this House in the cull whii-li 

--■v.W(j: propose to make upon the President will reach 'the prisons of our Irish brethren and 

impart at least one ray of sunshine amid the darkness wkioh has so long hovered over them. 

''■'And let me hope still further that England, warned by events wliieh have so recently trans- 

<;i pired upon her own borders and at "her own door, and before it is too late, may see the 

^ wisdom of breaking asimder the bolts of her dungeons and at once striking the shackles 

"^^ - from the hands of these suti'uring people. It is what we have a right to expect from a groat 

.. and generous nation. 

I ask, Mr. Speaker, that the resolution submitted by tho committoo may bo put upon its 
passage. ^ 

TnKSDAT, February 1-5, 1870. 

Mr. SWANN. Mr. Speaker, I had indulged the hope that tho report which I wa'i 
in.'-tructed by the Committee on Foreign Afiairs to make to this Uouse, in reference to the 
eonfiuiunent of American citizens of Irish descent in the jails and prisons of Great Britain, 
WDuld have been permitted to pass without debate, and I am sure that but for tho course 
which the gentleman from Vermont [Mr. Willakd] has thought it his duty to pursue, no 
serious opposition could have grown out of tho action of tho committee. In replying to his 
are;ument, I must disclaim, in the outset, any purpose to do injustice to my colleague, for 
whom I entertain a very high respect, or to' speak with any more freedom than has boen 
forced upon me by the attitude in which I have boen placed. 

Tho issue raised in this debate is one which afl'ects a very large class of our citizens, and 
involves principles of the deepest concern to tho whole American people. Tho rights of 
citizenship .stand at the very foundation of our free system of government, and the Cum- 
mittee on Foreign Affairs would have been wanting in a proper appreciation of their duty 
had they given any different direction to tho resolution of tho gentleman from Now York 
[Mr. Cox] whichwas submitted for their examination and report. 

Tho gentleman from Vermont has thought proper, I regrot to say, to give a political turn 
to this "discussion. Whether he expected" by this to benefit himself by showing his great 
adroitness in this sort of tactics, which I must say in all frankness has not impressed me favor- 
ably, or whether he hoped to relieve his party from the attitude in which he has placed them 
before the country, very unjustly I know, as opposed to Ireland and tho protection of Ameri- 
can citizens of Irish descent, I am unable to conjecture, nor is it of much consequence to this 
House to inquire. In my relations with the Committee on Foreign Affairs, it has beenmy 

food fortune to be thrown in contact not only with men of ability and national reputation, 
ut with high-toned gentlemen ; and I am sure that both the gentleman from Vermont him- 
self, as well as the members of the committee, will do me the justice to s.ay that in all the 
discussions which have taken place in that committee I have looked with a single eye t<.> the 
honor of the countrv as well as its material interests, without political or party bias ; and this 
is the first time that the motives of any member of the cummittoe have ever been assailed 
on account of present or past politicaraffiliations. It was the pleasure of the gentleman 
from Vermont to make this gratuitous and uncalled-for attack upon a member of tho com- 
mittee, and if ho.bas gained'laurels with those who may sympathize in this sort of irregular 
warfare, I. am sure it is no interest of mine to undertake to interfere with whatever of credit 
he may hope to appropriate to himself. 

Mr." WILLAKD. Mr. Speaker, I only desire to say, and I think the record will bear 
me out in the statement, that I have imputed no improper motive to him, and no improper 
motives of any sort'to any of my associates upon this committee, in the support of this reso- 
lution. The allusion I made to the gentleman from Maryland, my colleague on tho com- 
mittee, was made in no unkind feeling'on my part, and only in what I considered a pleasant 
and jocular way. Ceftiiinly no gentleman "in this House could have a greater solicitude 
than myself not to injure in any "way the feelings of my friend from Maryland ; and I now 
say, and I say it with entire cheerfulness, thafc if I had supposed tho allusion I mado to the 
gentleman's former political associations, or to what I was told was his former political asso- 
ciations, would have excited in him thb smallest degree of the feeling which he seems hero 
to manifest, my regard for him personally certainly would have prevented me from making 
it. And I only did it, as I have said already, in a pleasant and jocular way. 
Mr. SWANiST. In the speech to which l" refer the gentleman says : 
" Well, sir I sav now ami licre tliat this resolution, in mv Judgment, never would bavo appeared 

on tins 'floor, ami Kir i oininitl >ii Kiiri'it;ii Airiiis would never have been invited to lirinx 

beforf this Hor.si' 1 hi^ 1 rpiii I , IkhIh jint lui-ii iluii the constituents of many gentlemen of this 
House HI' liisli- \ in. i ir i n ci 1 i/.iiis, who s\ iiipal hir.i' with this elTort to divide the empire of 
Urcat Uiilain aiul I .. .-^hil il i..li :i >c(iar;ai- t:ovri iinic-nl lor Ireland. It is, air, nothing less than 
sviiipitliv with -lu iii-uni<-tii)n ac.o^s the wiitcr— sviiipalliv witli an assault upou the integrity 
o'rih.- Kiivdoiii (ift.i.-at r.ritaiii— and lor aii .xpr.'Hsiou (it aiivsui-li symiiathy 1 have not only no 
kindly l.-rling, l.ul 1 ni, an to i-ntcT niv proli-.^t a-aiii^l it. .Vnd I think it is very clear iiuleed, sir, 
for tho.;,- who have read tli.' dri.at._- on tliii rc|>.>rt t.i si'c that K.-niautMin if not openly expressed. 
Is inipii.-il in tin- r.-iolulion rit tin- tri-ntb-nian rr-.>ni N.-w York [Mr. (JoxJ and in the report ot tho 
eonimitlui'. Tiir ".■n i l.ijian tmni .Mai ylan.l, (.\1 r. swan.n.) who is my colleague on this eoniniit- 
tia-, will piMhap- pai.l.in nn- loi <alliii:i Ids atM.ailinn to tlK- fact that he has not grown so o d as 
Vi-t'in his association wUli the DcinOL-ratie |>arty that he has utterly forgotten some of bis past 
record ; and 1 imagims some fourteen or llfleeu years ago, if many of his constituents and stauiicli 
supporters in ilarylund had heard him express this warm sympathy with our Irlsli adopted citi- 



6 

01' Suiitli America who wei-o struggling for tlieir imlcpeni'lonce against the tVspotic power ot', 
the niothi^r country, and Mr. Clay cleclarcd boldly that he would ce:use to reprcsont his con- 
stituents if they disajiprovod his action as a synipathiziT with those people. When Kossuth 
came to this country he was rt'ceived by the two Houses of Congress, and entertained l>y the 
Presidium of the United States and nearly all the legislatures of the country, in the interest 
Of free institutions. This was not treated as a cause of offense. There are other examples in 
the progre.ss of this Government which sustain the action of the committee in the report 
whieh they have submitted. The honorable gentleman from Vermont raises the voice of 
warning; and this house is to be gagged and the American people degraded and brought 
down to the standard of a third-rate power, afraid to provoko imaginary consequences which 
we conf.'ss ourselves too weak to encounter. 

ilr. Speaker, I repudiate and turn away from all such teachings. It is not tho spirit of 
the Jlonroe doctrine or any other doctrine upon which we have heretofore acted ; and if it 
were, I am free to say for myself I would not be bound by it. Let us hasten on the spread 
of free government by every fair and honorable instrumentality. If monarchies vrither and 
decay under its influence let them go down, and God be praised for it. But let ue not under- 
estimate our duty or our strength. ^I have been tak( n to task more than once for my extreme 
conservatism, butupon this subject I find myself an ultra radical as compared with the gen- 
tleman from Termont. I wage n<) war upon foreign governments, but I claim tho right of 
the largest latitude in the expression of the sympathies of this House. If England takes 
oft'ense, let her do it. If she wants to make war for any such provocation we are ready to 
meet the res])onsibility whenever it suits her convenience. That is the doctrine with those 
who would undertake to cramp the free will of our people, or to interfere with its outspoken 
expression. * 

I am, perhaps, a little more exacting in regard to the rights of American citizenship than 
tho gentleman from Yermont. My colleague docs not seem disposed even to entertain a 
doubt as to the fairness and impartiality of "Great Britain, while I have been taught to dis- 
trust that government from the period that I was able to comprehend the workings of its 
aggressive and tortuoiLs policy. His cordial sympath.}' cannot lie extended to the Irish peo- 
jiio because they have " violated the laws of Great Britain." Suppose they had done so, is it 
sufficient to prove that they were guilty of an unpardonable act of outrage, and are not entitled 
1. 1 sympathy? Did not the whole American people, with Washington, and Jefterson, and 
Hancock, and Adams at their head, violate the laws of the mother country when they 
refused to continue longer under a government which had become intolerable? Tho laws 
of Gr(>at Britain are, like the laws of other states, made for tho protection of tho govern- 
ment, without reference to unforeseen contingencies which aii'ect more diuectly the welfare 
of the people. If we had not violated law we should not exist now as a republic. Tho 
mere allegation of a violation of the laws of Great Britain is sufficient with the gentleman 
from Vermont to justify, without further question, the denial of his cordial sympathy, or 
any sympathy at all, for the people of Ireland. Laws are made for the benefit of mankind ; 
and, although the constitution and laws of England are as unexceptionable, perhaps, as 
those of any other government based upon the monarchical principle, the gentleman surely 
cannot mean to contend that issues may not spring up which may make it necessary to .vio- 
late law in the interest of humanity. ' No doubt the people of Ireland have violated the 
laws of their country ; but admit them to be revolutionists, are they the less entitled to our 
sympathy for attempting to throw off the J'oke of oppression and wrong? 

Does my colleague mean to say that his sympathies jire with England in such a contest as 
against the principles of free government and the inalienable rights of man ? I speak now 
of the Irish people and their claims to our sympathy, apart from the question of American 
citizenship or our right to intervene in their behalf. In a contest between monarchical 
and republican government, docs the gentleman array himself on tho side of monarchy ? 
Had tho theory of myjcoUeague been sustained we should have made but slow progress in 
th(! maintenance andpropagation of free principles anywhere, and the world would have 
retrograded rather than advanced to her present elevated standpoint. "We should have been 
hopelessly remanded to the dark ages. There are principles connected with human govern- 
nitnt more to be cherished than the restraints which the law throws around them; and to 
deny to the Irish people the cordial sympathy of this country because they violate law in 
the effort to establish freedom, is dangcrousi in theory, un-American in spirit, and oppo.sed 
to all the teachings of our past history. Sympathy based upon the promptings of enlight- 
ened humanity is sometimes more powerful than force. It is the language which Christian 
people not uufrequcu^Jy resort to as a preliminary warning of graver and moro decided 
action. ■ ■ 

But what, after all, is this great bugbear of Fenianism which has exercised so fearfully 
tho imagination of the gentleniah from Vermont, and which has caused him to .suspect that 
Irish traitors were not only concealed in the " belly " of the report, but in every fence cor- 
ner whore a hiding place could be found? I know little about the Fenian Brotherhood, and 
less about any armed organization in which they are engaged at this time. I know that my 
o ilK'aguc has a holy reverence for the laws of neutrality ; aud'so have I, u])on any fair basis 
'if just reciprocity. I would treat England just as she treats us. There was no time during 
the war of the rebellion l^^^both^ljBandjjFrancc would not have wiped us from existence. Tho 



of a proper neutrality ;b I, u^po^^^^^^^ .} ^vould not broaic the laws 

mittinc; high treasnn-aUun't the offen/ol n^,^ '^ ^^v' '"'^■"dual sympathy without com- 
the pooplelf Ireland .siiouM s^ec^odfo'Ln^r'Lf,,.'':::' f/^fp" ' --^I '''' ''"'' '?"' }' 
hberabzin;,' the r Kovernnient or in e..t>,>,li V; Ti • ■'^ j '^ , •'^™"'^"' ""ve succeeded, in 
These Fenians afe stlS^upon tht^.K li,, '^^ independence, I should rejoice at' it. 
Great Britain. We have n^riKiute™ e Z ^l v in^ ^'1 '" °"'" ^^'■'"■•^'tion from 
it. It is a domestic issue of theif own R, tT . - ^ II "I ',"^^' ^''"''^'' ' "^'" '^" ^ '^'""'i 

be a step onward in that "r e t mtrchoF rno-t "'T;-**""* '^'^'^ ^'^""''^ ^"<^^<^<'«'J ''^'""'d 
sooneroVhUcr,toenfranchisrtheu^rM i^nd^r A ■'"' S"^*^™"!™' ^''"ch is destined, 
I have reason to believe" would no ro4tU Tli^ewT" ^'7^"' 'il '^'''' Vrcs,,,^ tomper] 
a deaf ear to all that has toan"pired in rf4d to rtul^^^^^^ ■"'" ^"■'"™' ''""'' *" »"'•" 

which go to show the severity rfSu^reTZe^? f ,? i A'"' pnsoners, or to any statements 
seemed to hav6 misdviuc^s rsVthfoonfinen en If H r *'''-^ have been subjected. He even 
descent. Mr. Spealcer, tt ii wel known f l^t A f"i« «V-"-^ American citizens of Irish 

without material cone essk n Ti th c C ^- r r/ f^^?. ^-''^ th>s struggle has been going on 
relaxation has taken place ntLeluu-eh Kwnn^ .?*'""' """^ '' ',' ""^'^ ''"•'''^y '''"' "ny 
policy in the future. There are now so^itln f 1 '' ""''"'^"^^^ l^""^*"? to a more liberal 
Whether they have been mUe res ITl? f T^^'' "^ °"' """^'"'^ ^"^"^■'^ i^i t^eir jails, 

overt acts of Lason S^ns^ tlL G™^^^^ "P«" <'''■■'''- ^o'L "'• 

people of this country°want intbrmation If fnv ! "^'5' ^ '^t"'" '^ ^"^ inrorn,ed. The 

subject we wish to se^it in orderXt we may mak'Tt'Z"^ •''''/''\'=''""" ^'"^^ "''°° '1'° 
may think projier to direct ^^ make it the basis of such action as this House 

matic correspoiuifnce In^remonA anfe *^"^^^ ^''^ '^"' -^J^«' "^ ^iplo- 

insist upon a code of her own^X'u regard to tre^cCi?alri"'hr her maritime poweV to 
eyery instance where concession has beenCde it ts been dnn? f .f"^"clly powers. In 
only under a pressure which she was poTed Jss to I ihstam^ with/r", °'"°'r," ''" I'"'"'' """^ 
It will be a subiect for considentinn in^fV, f ♦ withstand without danger to her own safety, 
citizenship, hoi ?L the An e i<^*^" ople wfu erndZ^^ ^''^ the rights of America^n 

ency witll its attendant aiTogan"e,^inrhrr cb im by the 'w i?"''f ^ %"-f '*™ 
terms to the rest of the world We ciVnnfJv, ♦ ^ ,^™^" "^ ^^^ trident to dictate 

forward and the delations [nwhMi the ".''t "^ '^''' ^" ^'^ ^'^^^Ses that are daily going 
of England is eirntially champed sL^l,!, e^^^'f f ''''""^ ^"^"""^ "'"^'^ '"^''■'- The Itatul . 
or the^y rant, and her ^ari i^e asce^^^denc: sa thin.° of"?hV,ff f 'T '° P'^^ the dictator 
make it so. "ucncy is a tning of the past whenever we choose to 

'^^''lo:::S::::^:^1^lF^^l^ ^'^twecn monarchical 

citizenship is concerned In such r K^ we^n , n ,f f T *"l? •,?"«^h'"' «" f="- 'i^ American 

we must triumph. The power exercLdL^^ir'""'''"' '''/'" ''"'i'"'^- I" ^"^l" '^ ^"-"SSIg 
of their own laws carries wirittran^eanVti^Kr^^ ''^'= supremaerof 

decision, without the benefit of appeal %vhkh aft c^^^^^^ of ultimate 

American citizens have been thrown ii^lo prison nnd^fTv,"''^;''' "Sl'' of citizenship., 
because of their devotion to the 3, ., VI ^ ^nd m^ietho objects of penal infliction 

their hostility to hei> own L^i^e cfnnot'F"" '^''"fVV'i^r"'"'"'^"^ '^ '^""^ed and of 

of action hereafter to torn, d he leHverv,-.^'^^ ^l''^' "^ '["' Government, as a settled rule 

-ay be under arrest' fc.r^^'lilLaVff^^tot deal7with"w the Tfu °' \'' I'lf "'^ "'''* 
country and under such provision.; of 1.^J „o n •> '"*^ tribunals of their own 

try are now claniori ,g I'or inor^devicirK on Wl,n T ''"°'' V "'">' P'^'''' "'' '^« '^"^'"- 
messnffe to this House" and eM^?,vi; •' -, ''' I regret the tone of the President's 

towarS the Cubt^^ .',; e b! ti' st^ e Dep'.rta^^ almost unfriendly policy pursued 

cap«Me^ olm>,.^^^-^J^^:X:^^^-: ^ZiS^^^Z^^^ 



8 

BpsidcB. Mr. Speaker, I did not see the evidence of that concert and union among themselves 
which gave assurance of success. They had in fact no government that we could recognize. 
They had no stronghold upon their coast, nor had they the power to do more than keep up 
a guerrilla warfare, seeking refuge when hard pressed in the more inaccessible parts of the 
island. This state of things exists at the present moment. How this struggle may end I do 
not pretend to anticipate. Should these Cuban people be able to hold out, Spain, from her 
almost bankrupt condition, becoming worse and worse every day that she is compelled to 
keep up the expenses of her army, may find it necessary to invoke the good offices of the 
United States in abandoning for a consideration her claims upon that island. I sincerely 
trust such may be the result. 

Those who indulged the hope that some amelioration in the condition of that people would 
result from the late revolution in the mother country must have been convinced that no such 
happy termination can ever be reached. Spain has fallen back into her normal condition. 
The faint glimmer of a more advanced era in her night of despotism has been hopelessly 
extinguished ; and Cuba, with her struggling masses, must continue to invoke the symjiathieB 
of the advocates of free government under the increased rigors of the despotic arm which 
will be extended over her. The American people cannot view without emotion the compli- 
cations which have sprung up in that quarter, and I will say for myself, in explanation of 
the views which I have heretofore presented to this House, and in close connection with the 
general subject which I have been discussing, that so soon as a period shall arrive when this 
Government may intervene, without infringement of international obligations, that I shall 
be prepared to discharge my whole duty to an oppressed people, and in vindication of tha 
right of self-government and the claims of a progressive humanit}'. 

The principle enunciated in the report of the committee involves the rights of American 
citizenship and the duty of this Government when these rights are brought in question. It 
is the greatest of all the national issues with which we have to deal. It is not to be settled 
by part}' crimination and recrimination, but upon an enlightened interpretation of inter- 
national law and the requirements of enlarged statesman.ship. There can be no more im- 
portant feature connected with the progress and success of this Government or of any Govern- 
ment. If it should turn out that we have no just cause of complaint against Great Britain 
in the imprisonment of American citizens, so much the better ; but experience teaches 
us that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty; and be the pretext what it ma_y, be it ever 
so trifling, it is better to err on the side of caution and over-watchfulness than that the 
humblest of our citizens should be made to suffer for a single instant. England recognized 
this principle in her Abj'ssinian expedition, and should hardly complain of the application 
of the same rule to herself where causes of complaint are found to exist. But be this as it 
may, our obligation is plain and unmistakable. The duty of allegiance carries with the 
reciprocal duty of protection, and any apathy or indifference on the part of this Government 
toward those to whom she has guarantied protection can only result in degredation and 
dishonor. 

The report of the committee contains nothing to which any one ought to object. The res- 
olution is a resolution of inquiry merely, committing this House to no definite action until 
the fullest light is shed upon the whole subject. As to any concealed purpose in the report 
of the committee or the resolution appended to it, the gentleman from Vermont would tax 
his ingenuity in vain to make it apparent to this House. 

, Mr. Speaker, I do not wish to be placed in a false position. I am no agitator ; at the same 
time that I can never he induced to shrink from the discharge of a high public duty, Wiiere 
national issues are involved, be the consequences what thay ma}-, I am not one of those who 
believe in a policy of weakness and indecision. We have a great mission to perform, and 
this Government must be true to herself. If the Monroe doctrine has answered its day arid 
generation we must ascertain wherein it fails to meet the demands of a progressive age. If 
the law of nations is defective we must interpolate our own principles of right and justice 
and claim their recognition. 

The power of this Government must be felt, not only on this continent, but throughout the 
world. With a territory stretching from ocean to ocean, comprising within itself all the ele- 
ments of production which enter into the estimate of national wealth and the material power 
and greatness of a people ; with a tide of immigration setting in from the Old World, startling 
in its magnitude and proportions ; with new States bursting into existence almost with the 
rapidity of magic, and claiming representation upon this floor as a part of our common 
brotherhood ; with a people warlike and full of the spirit of enterprise and adventure ; with 
a power of concentration by means of our great works of internal improvements, making 
us impregnable to foreign encroachment or invasion, the American people will no longer 
consent to play a subordinate part in giving direction to the world's progress. The first of 
our duties in this new role as the protection of American citizenship. It stands at the foun- 
dation of all government. It is too great a principle to be lightly regarded ; and I should 
look upon it as the greatest calamity that could befall this nation at any time and at all 
times, for this House to show apathy or indifference in extending protection, when demanded, 
to the humblest citizen of this Republic, whether native born or naturalized, and from 
whatever nationality. 

Published by the National Democratic Execntive Kesldeut Committee, Wa8liiji;,'ton, D. C. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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